


In The Name of Adrichat

by sae_what



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Banter, Crack, F/M, Flustered Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Flustered Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Humor, Identity Reveal, Plagg is secretly an Adrichat shipper, not even a secret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28396824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sae_what/pseuds/sae_what
Summary: Alya draws a serious conclusion as to why Adrien and Chat Noir are never caught in the same room: They have an undying crush on one another and are too nervous to ever face each other.Once she sees all the signs point to this, Marinette decides to do the most rational thing: set Adrien and Chat Noir up on a date.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 16
Kudos: 90





	In The Name of Adrichat

“Marinette, you’re not gonna like what you’re about to hear.”

She gave Alya a curious look. “What is it?”

Alya gestured Marinette to sit on the courtyard bench as she took out her phone. As she scrolled, Marinette leaned towards her and scanned her phone.

On the top of her notes app read: _Maybe the Adrichat shippers were RIGHT._

“Adrichat shippers?” Marinette read aloud, only for Alya to shush her. “Alya, I feel like there’s a lot of nonsense that gets put out on the internet like this. You can’t possibly believe—“

“Wait, Marinette, you gotta hear me out,” Alya’s tone was serious, a glint of persuasion in her eyes enough for Marinette to sigh and give in to what she possibly had to say about _Adrichat_.

“So, I’ve been doing a bit of intense research last night,” she began.

“Yeah, I can tell.” Marinette pointed at the bags under her eyes. “How many hours of sleep did you get last night?”

“That’s beside the point!” Alya huffed, lowering Marinette's hand. Marinette couldn’t help but giggle.

“Anyways, I noticed how Adrien and Chat Noir are never seen in the same room together. I thought that was kind of odd,” Alya continued. “And I know you mentioned that there was no way that Adrien and Chat are the same person. You were right about that.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow, full attention on her friend. Well, the fact that Alya had finally given up on her _Adrien = Chat Noir_ theory lightened the weight on her shoulders. 

“Instead of them being the same person, what if they know each other personally? Or… have harboring feelings for the person that the other doesn’t know about?”

Alya opened a video of Chat Noir, in the middle of a heated akuma battle. “ _Adrien, Adrien, Adrien. All the girls are fighting over him. No one's fighting over me. Yet I'm so much more sophisticated, funnier, and_ definitely _better dressed than him._ ”

“And! Get this, Marinette.” Her voice became deeper. “When I mentioned Chat Noir to Adrien a few days ago, he got so tongue-tied and super blushy. What’s up with that?”

“Where is this going?” Marinette crossed her arms.

“It makes sense, doesn’t it? Why do you think Chat Noir gets so defensive whenever people fangirl about Adrien? Or why Adrien always gets so nervous whenever someone brings up Chat Noir?”

“Should I indulge you and ask why?”

“Yes, you should. But you already know where I’m going with this.” Alya grinned, her voice growing into a whisper. “It’s because they have a crush on each other, without the other one knowing!”

Marinette pursed her lips at the idea, squinting her eyes in thought. Chat Noir had always been on the defense whenever girls would begin to mutter even a little bit about Adrien. That fight with Oni-chan was not the first time. She always thought it was because he was _jealous_ of Adrien, jealous of the fact that he had girls who flocked to him more often than Chat. 

But perhaps it was his way of hiding how he really felt, his defense mechanism.

As for Adrien, she recalled the time when she met up with Chat as Marinette during the events of Evillistrator. He had been so genuinely curious to learn what Marinette thought of Chat Noir. Did Adrien really want her opinion? Or did he ask because he was genuinely curious on what it was like to be _with_ Chat Noir?

Marinette locked her wide eyes on Alya. 

“I… can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you’re right.”

The evidence was all right there. There was no way that there was any other explanation, why Chat cared so much about Adrien and vice versa.

Her friend furrowed her brows with concern. “I’m so sorry, girl. I never thought Adrien was unobtainable for you, but if he has feelings for Chat Noir…”

“No, Alya, it’s not that… This is…” Marinette’s mind buzzed maniacally, mixed thoughts and feelings washing over her. 

This was supposed to be heartbreaking. _Adrien_ , the boy that she had a crush on for a while now had feelings for Chat Noir. _Chat Noir_ , who also happened to be one of her closest friends and superhero partner. And Chat Noir returned those feelings.

They just didn’t know it.

“Oh, Marinette, you look like you’re about to cry—“

“No! I just,” Marinette held back tears, frankly surprised by just how emotional she was getting. “This is _good!_ ”

Alya’s face stitched with confusion. “Wait. _Good?_ How is this good for you? Did I miss something?”

A feeling of renewal basked within her. More than anything, Marinette just wanted to support both of her good friends. Yes, she had feelings for Adrien, but Chat Noir was important to her too, and she couldn’t bear to see his heart broken if Adrien ended up with someone who wasn’t him.

And so, Marinette had decided. She would make a rash decision, a daring one.

But it was righteous, it was just. It was in the name of her friendship with both Adrien and Chat Noir.

In the name of Adrichat.

* * *

Luckily, Adrien’s schedule was free after school today, which would give him the time to lounge around the city as Chat Noir. 

He witnessed a familiar figure leaving the school building of Collège Françoise Dupont. 

_Leaving_ was an understatement. She was _sprinting_.

Marinette ran across the street, dodging cars and ignoring stoplights. Running, running, like her life depended on it.

Crap, was there an akuma or something?

Chat Noir chased after her, jumping from one roof to the next, tracing where she was in a rush to go to. His ears perked; he knew this pathway.

This was the way to the Agreste mansion.

Chat Noir finally landed his feet on the ground, which took Marinette by surprise. 

She gave a light yelp, before blinking a few times to realize who was in front of her.

“Chat Noir? What are you doing here?”

He gave her a light chuckle. “Maybe I should be asking you the same question. Why are you off in a hurry? Are you trying to hide from an akuma or something? Because I don’t think the Agrestes will let you camp out on their mansion.”

Marinette opened her mouth to speak, a slight hesitation in what she was about to say. “No akumas. Actually, I’ve been looking for you.”

“Oh? I thought you’d be looking for Adrien or something,” Chat spoke blankly. 

“Adrien? Pfft, no way!” Marinette responded bashfully. “I mean, why would I want Adrien—? I mean, what would Adrien do for me—? Err, _no_! Why would _look_ for _Adrien?_ ” She let out an exhausted huff, like her mouth had been running a marathon. She then stuck out finger guns. “I mean, heck, the better question is, ‘Are _you_ looking for Adrien?’”

“Am _I_ looking for Adrien?” Chat Noir tilted his head with curiosity. “Why would I look for Adrien?”

“Oh! Didn’t you hear? He wanted you to meet up with him in the new open cafe. He’s really interested in you.” 

Marinette stuffed her hand inside her pocket, then held out a small piece of paper. On it was an address printed in printed cursive and decorated with coffee stains.

Wait.

Did Marinette just say that _Adrien_ wanted to meet _Chat Noir_ ? And that Adrien was _interested_ … in _Chat Noir_?

That can't be right.

A bead of sweat trickled down his brow. He couldn’t possibly tell her that this was sort of impossible. Marinette couldn’t know that he and Adrien were the same person. 

He gulped down a lump on his throat, slightly panicked, trying his hardest to find the words to respond to Marinette’s offer.

“Oh, wow… I, uh… had no idea that Adrien had a thing for me,” was all he managed to say as he accepted the card from Marinette’s hold.

“Ah, yes, I totally have a thing for him!” Marinette flailed her hands in front of her, to only give a violent cough, then reply again with a deeper voice. “ _No_. What I mean to say is that… he _might_ have a thing for you, but you didn’t hear anything from me!” She gave Chat Noir a gleeful wink that made him turn slightly pink.

How cute was that?

Marinette gave Chat a wave of goodbye as she ran back to the bakery. 

He glanced down at the card. A new cafe, open, huh?

Chat sighed, glancing up at the orange skies. Sundown was coming soon, and his father would wonder where he was. He headed back home, discreetly sneaking his way back through the window of his room.

* * *

Marinette decided that she would have fewer cars to dodge if she was transformed as Ladybug. She looked down at the card that she would hand to Adrien next.

As landed on a rooftop, her gaze darted to the Agreste mansion.

No way.

Chat Noir snuck his way in through Adrien’s window, slowly closing the windowpane.

So Chat Noir _did_ know Adrien personally.

And then Ladybug’s heart stopped when the next thought of question crossed her mind: What was he going to do in Adrien’s bedroom?

In a panic, she whizzed through the sky and arrived at the Agreste mansion hastily, aggressively tapping on Adrien’s window.

Adrien turned from his desk, eyes widening at the sight of Ladybug. He opened the window to let her in.

“L-Ladybug! What are you doing here?” 

Ladybug’s tone was serious. “I saw Chat Noir come inside. Where is he?”

Adrien blushed furiously. “Chat… Chat Noir? I don’t know a Chat Noir! _Who’s Chat Noir?!_ ”

Ladybug searched under his bed, then briefly inside his bathroom, scanned the high ceilings of any signs that Chat Noir was here.

There were none.

Looks like she really did miss him.

“I swore I saw him come in here…” Ladybug crossed her arms in suspicion. “Well, I guess I can tell you myself.”

“Tell me what?” Adrien’s eyes glowed with genuine curiosity.

Ladybug opened her yo-yo to retrieve the business card. “Chat Noir wants to go on a date with you.”

Adrien stared dead at the card that Ladybug held out in front of him.

“Is everyone just having exclusive dates at this new cafe?” Adrien asked, as though he was pressing for very-much-needed answers.

“Um, no?” Ladybug responded. “Chat Noir is the only one who got this.”

“Wait, how do you know that Chat Noir got this already?” Adrien took the invitation from Ladybug, holding it between his index and middle finger.

“Hold on, how do _you_ know that Chat Noir has it?” Ladybug questioned. “So, he _was_ here.”

Adrien hid his face inside his hands. He was silent for a while before he finally nodded his head, his voice muffled. “Yeah… yeah. Chat Noir was here. He, uh… left before you could see him.”

Ladybug had to catch her breath for a few seconds. More and more evidence was adding up to the fact that Chat Noir and Adrien were somehow romantically affiliated with each other, but maybe it was more than that.

They were secretly meeting each other too??

With how light-headed she was feeling, Ladybug swore she was going to faint. 

This was insane. Alya was on the right track, sure, but her conclusions were an understatement.

Adrien and Chat Noir didn’t just have a crush on each other.

They were _in love_ with each other.

* * *

“Plagg, this doesn’t make sense,” Adrien lay on his bed pensively, holding up both the tickets that he now possessed. “Are Marinette and Ladybug trying to set up Adrien and Chat Noir on a date?”

He swore he heard Plagg snicker in delight, but it was soon drained out by his obnoxious chewing of his camembert. “How would I know? Maybe Marinette and Ladybug are part of a secret fan club or something.”

Adrien turned his head to his kwami. “Fan club? Like an Adrien fan club? Chat Noir fan club?” He wouldn’t be surprised with something along those lines.

Plagg pursed his lips, suppressing his laughter. “No, no. More than just that. An _Adrichat_ fan club.”

“I— wha… An _Adrichat fan club_?”

“I may have done some… questionable things on your computer recently,” Plagg said passively.

“Questionable things?” Adrien tore his blanket from himself as he dashed to his computer. “Plagg, I swear, what did—“

“Adrichat fanfiction.”

Adrien ran a hand down his face. Oh, no. Not _this_ again. This happened _specifically_ in April, and this was coming back _again_?

Plagg continued, “There’s still a bunch of people writing fics. For Adrichat.”

Adrien scrolled through his internet history, and he couldn’t help but hold back a cringe. “Plagg, _why_?”

“What? You enjoyed reading stuff like this several months ago. I just remembered, and I was curious, that’s all.” Plagg devoured another bite of camembert. “I guess Adrichat is making having a resurgence again.”

“It’s too soon to have a resurgence,” Adrien deadpanned.

“Adrichat doesn’t follow the concept of time, Adrien,” Plagg said. “Adrichat just _is_.”

Adrien turned off his computer, shaking his head vigorously as though this entire ordeal would go away with just a thought.

On a more serious note, he supposed that Marinette being an Adrichat fan made sense; he knew that Marinette was a fan of his, and Chat Noir’s as well.

But Ladybug?

And how did Ladybug know about Chat Noir’s invitation to the cafe? Were they both in on this? They did both give Adrien and Chat the invitation on the same day after all.

The moonlight basked gently on his bedsheets, and right now, all he wanted—all he _needed_ —was a good night's rest.

* * *

Marinette couldn’t sit still throughout class, Adrien noticed.

He supposed that the only way to figure out what she and Ladybug were up to was to keep a close eye on her.

Marinette must have noticed how much he was staring though, as she hid her face behind her backpack the rest of the day.

Adrien tapped his foot, and finally the bell rang. He stood from his chair.

“Marinette.”

She shot up from behind her backpack. “Gah! Yes, I’m Marinette!”

Once everyone had left the classroom, Adrien inhaled, then spilled. “How does Ladybug know about the date?”

“Wha… what?” 

“Chat Noir told me,” was the only reasoning Adrien could come up with. He held out his cafe invitation. “How does she know? Do you talk to her or something?”

“I, uh…” Marinette froze in her seat. “Ha, um, yeah, we’re super close! We… we’re big… fans of … Adrichat.” She stretched out the last word, the word _Adrichat_ practically ripped through the quiet classroom.

Huh.

“I wanted to invite you,” Adrien proposed, “on a double date maybe? If you and Ladybug are that close.”

“A double what now?” Marinette chuckled nervously.

“Yeah! Chat Noir and I would love to have you there.” Adrien gave her a smirk. “I’ll see you and Ladybug there then?”

Marinette’s nervous demeanor oozed out of her almost immediately, and all too sudden, her posture changed from a slouched nervousness to broadened shoulders, a cheeky smile curled to her lips. 

“I’m sure you will.”

* * *

They better attack this akuma quickly. Otherwise, Ladybug would run late to this so-called double date.

Once she released the purified akuma, she gave Chat Noir a fist bump.

“Your boyfriend sure is feisty,” Ladybug jumped the gun. “He really took Marinette aback.”

“You… talk to Marinette?” 

Ladybug smirked, studying Chat Noir’s alarmed expression. 

This was getting funny.

“Yeah. Going on a double date with us? What a bold thing to propose.” She whirled her yo-yo playfully. “Funny that someone like you wouldn’t have considered that.”

“Yeah… funny,” Chat Noir giggled, then he looked down at his flashing ring. “I’ll meet you at the cafe!”

She sighed, biting down at her yo-yo with frustration. She couldn’t _believe_ how stupid she was.

How could she be this _stupid_?

Adrichat wasn’t canon.

Despite how flustered Chat Noir got when Marinette mentioned to him that Adrien knew him.

Despite how anxious Adrien was at the mention of Chat’s name when Ladybug was in his room.

Despite how neither of them denied their relationship.

No, there was a bigger reason behind this.

She hurled her yo-yo and tugged, on her way to the cafe for her supposed double date.

* * *

“Ladybug!” Adrien perked up from his seat, feeling a light draft come in the cafe as the shopkeeper's bell chimed.

“Huh, how odd,” Ladybug sat on the seat across Adrien. “Chat Noir just told me that he was on his way here. I thought he would arrive here first, not you.”

“I am very punctual, m’laaaa—“ Adrien clapped his hand to his mouth. “…’ _adybug._ ”

“I’m sure you are.” Folding her hands, Ladybug rested her chin on knuckles. “Marinette, on the other hand, is always late. You know how she is.”

“How could I not?” Adrien laughed lightly, which sent Ladybug’s chest soaring. She ignored it.

“Yeah, Marinette is great,” Ladybug smiled crookedly. “But not as great as Chat Noir, right?”

“Ha, yeah! I, uh… really like him,” Adrien stumbled. 

“What do you like about him?” 

Without hesitation, Adrien said, a matter-of-factly, “He’s strong but also kind, has gorgeous green eyes, and very handsome. Just my type of guy.”

“I could say the same about you,” Ladybug slipped.

“What?”

“Huh?” Her cheeks flushed, biting her tongue.

Suddenly, her earrings blinked. Down to two minutes.

_Crap._

_Nice going, Marinette. You goofed._

How could she forget to feed Tikki before she came here?

Adrien pointed at her earrings. “That means you’ll transform back, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Ladybug nodded, cold sweat running down her back. “Give me a moment.”

“Wait,” Adrien took her by the hand, and feeling the heat resonate from his skin and through the fabric of her suit, Ladybug’s heart pounded violently.

He held out a piece of… 

“Camembert cheese?”

“Your kwami might need it,” Adrien slipped.

Ladybug widened her eyes.

Then Adrien realized what he had just said.

And he swore under his breath.

“Adrien Agreste,” Ladybug leaned closer towards him. “How do you know what a kwami is?”

Adrien bit his lip. “Uh… my father owned the Miraculous spellbook! I saw it in there—“

“Try again,” Ladybug folded her arms across her chest.

“How about I ask _you_ a question, Ladybug. Why isn’t Marinette here? Did you get stood up, or is that some kind of coincidence?”

“Why did Chat Noir disappear the night when he snuck into your room?” Ladybug shot back. “Where did he go?”

“Why were you and Marinette, _on the same day_ , try to set me and Chat up on a date?”

“Is it even possible to set you two up on a date? Where even _is_ your date, huh, kitty?”

Ladybug froze after realizing what she had just called him.

“Kitty?”

“And what did you call _me_ earlier?”

Adrien’s voice was coated with guilt. “M’lady.”

“M’lady,” Ladybug repeated.

"Cat's out of the bag then, huh?" Adrien shrugged. "Now, can we talk about the fact that you're actually Marinette under that mask, and I found that out first before you found out I was Chat Noir?"

Ladybug scoffed, slightly offended. "How do _you_ know that you figured out first?"

“You were too busy trying to let the Adrichat ship sail to know we were the same person,” Adrien whisper-yelled.

Ladybug stammered, failing to find words to deny his statement. Her earrings blinked down to one minute.

Adrien wore a toothy grin. “You better feed your kwami before everyone else suspects you.”

Ladybug growled under her breath, sprinting to the bathroom, then returned to her seat after replenishing Tikki. 

The two of them sat silently, until Ladybug couldn’t handle it anymore. She released her laughter she had tried to suppress.

“This is insane. I… I can’t believe you were right in front of me this whole time,” Ladybug wiped a tear of joy from her eyes. “God, how lucky am I that the two people that I really cherish in my life ended up being one in the same.”

“If anyone is lucky, Ladybug, it’s me,” Adrien smiled shyly. “This was the best way to figure it out too.”

“' _Best way'_ … That’s one way to put it,” Ladybug rolled her eyes, and Adrien couldn’t help but laugh.

As their laughter finally died down, the two of them indulged themselves in the moment that was now. Indulged themselves in the taste and smell of coffee, the beautiful orange-pink of the sun seeping through the window, and the presence of one another.

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone else at the cafe hearing their entire conversation: 
> 
> [insert awkward side-eyeing monkey puppet meme here]
> 
> Talk to me on tumblr! [sae-what](https://sae-what.tumblr.com/)


End file.
